


Through Sickness

by SaraJaye



Series: Ever After 'Verse [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Caretaking, Family Fluff, Gen, M/M, Sick Keith (Voltron), Sickfic, Vomiting, blanket burrito
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 13:00:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19791409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Keith and the kid get a nasty case of the flu, and Shiro is the most patient husband and father ever.





	Through Sickness

**Author's Note:**

> Originally for cottoncandybingo's prompt: dealing with the gross times when loving someone

It's not the alarm that wakes him one morning, but Keith sneezing. Keith rarely gets sick, and he doesn't have any allergies, so of course this sets off a red flag. He looks to his side to see Keith rubbing his nose on his pajama sleeve, eyes bleary and hair mussed from sleep.

"Morning."

"Morning yourself, babe." Shiro presses a hand to his forehead. It's too warm. "You're sick, aren't you?" Keith makes a face. When he _does_ get sick, he can be stubborn as hell about admitting it; Shiro remembers their garrison days and the time he had to carry a feverish, coughing Keith to his apartment while the latter denied anything being wrong. This is one thing that hasn't changed since those days.

"It's just a sneeze," Keith grumbles. "You're a worry-" He's cut off by a long, messy sneezing fit, and Shiro just barely manages to grab a wad of tissues for him before the snot flies everywhere. His hand and face are still messy with it when the fit wears off, though, and it doesn't stop Keith rubbing his nose on his sleeve again.

"Just a sneeze, Starlight?" Shiro teases. Keith turns red, making a noise not unlike an angry cat.

"That's not fair." Shiro knows his husband is weak to that particular pet name. "Shiro, I _can't_ miss work. I was fine yesterday, they're not gonna be able to get a sub on such short notice." It's a miracle Shiro can understand him through the thick layer of congestion and the constant sniffling.

"Babe-"

He's cut off by the sound of little footsteps rushing for the bathroom, followed by vomiting. _Oh, no._ From the looks of it, he's gonna have to skip work today, too.

"Stay put. I'm gonna go check on Athena." He kisses Keith's sweaty forehead, throws a robe on, and heads into the bathroom. He grimaces at the sight of the rug near the toilet, it looks like Athena didn't quite make it. "Oh, honey..."

"'m sorry, Daddy," Athena whines pitifully, just before she begins to throw up again. Shiro grabs the trash pail and sticks it under her just in time; he's not about to make her kneel on a dirty rug in front of the toilet. He rolls up the rug and tosses it into the laundry hamper, he'll deal with it later.

Vomit doesn't phase him, not after Hunk's disasterous beginning as a pilot during their Voltron days, but watching his little girl heaving into a trash pail is thoroughly unpleasant nonetheless. It's practically full when he puts it back down, and Athena's crying. He doesn't blame her. Who _likes_ throwing up?

"It's okay, honey," he says quietly, helping her rinse her mouth and wash her face. "Daddy's got you."

"I feel _yucky._ "

"I know." He carries her back to her room, puts her in bed, and empties the pail by her desk before placing it next to her bedside. "I'll-"

Keith's sneezing again, followed by a coughing fit. Their room is two doors down from Athena's.

"Plan B, then," he murmurs, picking Athena up again and carrying her to the master bedroom. He sets her down on his side and grabs another wad of tissues for Keith, who glances between him and Athena.

"Her, too?"

"Looks like this is the designated sickroom for today," Shiro says. Athena offers Keith a crooked smile.

"Hey, Dad. I just puked my guts out."

"I heard you." Keith pats her head. "Good thing you've got me and your daddy-"

"Nope." Shiro gently pushes him onto his back. He's getting sweaty now, he can feel it through his pajamas. Which haven't been washed in a week or two, either, now that he thinks of it. "You're sick, too."

"But-"

"I'll prove it." He grabs the insta-thermometer from the bathroom along with two sleeves so he can check Athena's temperature as well. Keith's reads 102.3, while Athena's reads 101.9. Too high, on both counts, and Athena's probably dehydrated after throwing up. As much as he'd like to tell his husband _I told you so,_ both of them need fluids. "Be right back."

He returns five minutes later with two glasses of water and a half-empty bottle of apple juice. They're going to need more, plus ginger ale, and he should probably make Keith breakfast at some point.

The room smells of sweat and vomit, and Keith's entire right sleeve is shiny with snot. Shiro turns on the fan and makes a mental note to get Keith a fresh shirt soon.

"Thanks," he mutters, his voice thick and raspy.

"No problem. Drink that slowly, Athena, otherwise it'll come back up." Athena usually pouts when someone tells her to take her time or slow down, but this time she obeys. Who _wants_ to throw up again, after all? "Keith, are you hungry?"

"Daddy," Athena whines, "don't _mention_ food right now. My tummy _hurts._ "

"And I probably can't swallow a damn thing," Keith grumbles, coughing. "Throat feels like I've been punched by a Robeast over and over again." Upon closer inspection, Keith's glands look a little swollen, and Shiro prays he's not coming down with something worse than the flu.

"I'll call your mother and ask her to bring over more juice, then," he says as he dumps a few pieces of paper out of the wastebasket, placing it beside the bed just in case. "Rest." He kisses each of their foreheads before going down to the kitchen.

Somehow, Kosmo knows. He comes to greet Shiro, but he hasn't tried to go upstairs or teleport anywhere since the alarm went off. Shiro gives him a few appreciative pets.

"Good boy. I'm sure they'll be glad for your company soon, but not now, okay?" Kosmo barks softly, licking his hand, and Shiro quickly goes to the kitchen to text Krolia before remembering she's meeting the rest of the Blades off-planet. _Right, the New Daibazaal reconstruction._

So he texts Colleen. She's taken a teaching job at the Garrison to be close to her husband and children, but it's still early enough that her first class is still an hour away. He barely has to explain the situation to her before she's texting _ON MY WAY_. She's there in less than ten minutes.

"This should hold you for the morning," she says, unpacking two bottles of apple juice, a bottle of ginger ale, a box of saltines, a loaf of white bread, and a container of her own homemade chicken broth. "Two of my students called in sick, and Katie and Sam are at home throwing up." Shiro winces.

"Them, too?"

"This is a nasty bug," Colleen sighs. "I just hope it passes quickly."

"I hope so, too." Three of Shiro's crew members had left early two days ago, and yesterday one of Keith's students had passed out with a fever in the simulator. "Thanks for coming, Colleen. Tell Pidge and Sam I hope they feel better soon."

"Do you need any help? I can send Matthew over," she offers, but Shiro shakes his head. He doesn't want to risk Matt's health, or for him to miss out on work.

"I've got this." Colleen nods, patting his shoulder.

"Call me if you need any help. At the rate things are going I may not even have a class to teach this morning." She leaves, and Shiro goes back upstairs to check on his family. As he expected, the pail's been used and Keith is surrounded by used tissues. Athena's curled up in a ball whimpering, and Shiro briefly wonders if he should have accepted Colleen's offer off Matt's help.

_No. I've got this,_ he tells himself. First things first, both of them need baths and fresh pajamas, and it wouldn't hurt to change the sheets, either. He rushes back to Athena's room first to grab a fresh nightgown for her, then gets fresh pajama pants and a t-shirt for Keith.

"Mind getting up for a bit, you two?" he asks as he sets the clothing down on a chair. Keith smiles weakly.

"We don't have a choice, do we?"

"Afraid not, babe." Shiro helps them both out of bed and sets up the blanket and pillows for them to sit down on while he runs the water in his and Keith's bathroom. The main one is too far away and he doesn't want to keep rushing them back and forth down the hall when they're like this. He helps Athena wash her face and gets her settled into the tub, keeping the door a crack open. "You'll be okay in there?"

"Yeah, I won't fall asleep and drown, promise," Athena says, sniffling. "And I won't puke, either. I think I'm empty now." He nods and leaves her to relax, keeping the door a crack open. He finds Keith burritoed in the blankets when he returns.

"Good thing I'll be washing those," he laughs, sitting down beside the roll of sweaty husband and musty blankets. Keith gives a weak laugh, inching over to Shiro and nosing his leg. Sometimes Shiro forgets how immature Keith can be when he's sick. "Yes, dear, I'm coming." He sits down, patting Keith's back through the layers.

"Do I have to have a bath? Just let me be gross, I'm too tired for anything else," Keith sulks. Shiro smiles, ruffling his messy hair.

"You'll feel so much better, I promise. The steam will help your congestion."

"That's showers. And there's not even enough in that, you could've just gotten the vaporizer," Keith mutters, plunking his head on Shiro's lap.

"Not while you're feverish," Shiro says. "Once your temperatures go down I'll plug it in." He's never sure whether that myth about sweating out a fever is actually dangerous or just wrong, but he doesn't want to take any chances. Warm food, yes, but the vaporizer would just make the room stuffy.

"Fine." Keith pouts. Shiro ruffles his hair again. Keith is almost asleep in his lap when Athena calls out that she's finished in the bath. Keith groans. "My turn next?"

"Your turn next."

He's never been so grateful for his floating arm as he is today. While Keith's bathing and Athena's changing into her nightgown, Shiro goes to grab a set of fresh sheets and a lighter blanket while his Altean arm strips the bed of the sweaty, gross linens. By the time Keith is finished bathing, dried, and changed into his fresh pajamas, the bed's ready and he's hurrying husband and daughter under the covers.

"Better?" he asks. Athena smiles a little.

"A little. I feel cooler and my tummy doesn't hurt now," she says. Keith sighs, managing a small smile of his own.

"You were right. Sort of. I mean, it helped." He leans back against the pillow. "I'm hungry." Right, breakfast. It's eight now, and Athena should probably have something, too. They have everything Colleen brought them, plus half a jar of grape jelly in the fridge.

"How about it, Athena? Think you can keep something down?" Athena thinks for a moment, then nods a little.

"I think so."

"That's my girl." He smooths back her hair. "Want me to get you one of your books or games?" She gives him a list, and he has to tell her to start over while he grabs a pad and pen from the dresser.

Luckily, Athena's breakfast stays down, and Keith doesn't show and signs of digestive distress after eating. Athena curls up on her side of the bed and reads three of the five Babysitter's Little Sister books he brought her, while Keith alternates between napping and watching reruns of his favorite sitcoms.

Kosmo comes in around eleven while Athena and Keith are both napping, lying in a way that he can be across both their feet at the same time. Athena's the first to wake up and start petting him.

"Good thing you can't catch it. I don't wanna find out if wolf vomit can teleport," she says. Kosmo barks happily, and that rouses Keith from his slumber. His glands look less swollen now, so Shiro wonders if maybe he was just seeing things earlier.

"How're you two feeling?" he asks.

"Still icky, but less so," Athena says. "I'm just glad I'm not throwing up anymore."

"I'll live." Keith smiles. "Have you been watching us all this time?" Shiro chuckles.

"Nah, I did a load of laundry and washed the dishes during the third episode of the Three's Company block." He gets up to grab the thermometer and check their temperatures. Keith's has dropped about a degree and a half, while Athena's has by one. Still high, but any reduction is good enough in his book.

"Does this mean I get to stay home from school tomorrow, too?" Athena asks. Shiro ruffles her hair.

"At least for tomorrow, kiddo."

"Yay!" She doesn't jump up and pump her fists, but seeing some of her energy returning is a good sign.

"And I should be all better by tomorrow, so-" Keith starts, but Shiro cuts him off.

"Not a chance, Starlight. And before you ask, I'm taking tomorrow off too. I told the admins not to expect me back for the rest of the week, actually." Keith makes a face, but Shiro can tell he's secretly just fine with this. It takes a lot for Keith to admit he wants to be coddled even a little.

"All right. But you've gotta sit and watch a movie with us while we eat lunch," he says. Shiro smiles.

"That can be arranged. Got anything special in mind?"

"The Simpsons," Keith and Athena say in unison. Shiro nods in approval. The movie wasn't one of the best he'd ever seen but he'd enjoyed it, and the familiarity of Springfield is good for a day like today.

"Perfect."

It's still half an hour till lunchtime, though, so Shiro busies himself with throwing out the used tissues, scrubbing out the wastebaskets, and washing the rug.

_This may just be the calm before the storm,_ he reminds himself. But having a family means dealing with the unpleasant times, too.


End file.
